This covered entrée dish, a rare form in American silver, reflects the burgeoning popularity of the dinner service at this date. Bailey and Kitchen, one of the leading silver and jewelry retailers in nineteenth-century Philadelphia, introduced Britain’s sterling standard to the United States in an effort to compete with English imports. The design of the dish, especially the scroll-and-shell feet, harks back to London silver of the 1760s and 1770s.

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: engraved on body: arms of McKean familystamped twice on body at rim above handles: 2stamped twice on cover at rim adjoining "2" marks on body: 2stamped twice on handles of liner: 2stamped on exterior side of liner below handle: 2stamped on bezel of cover beneath one numeral 2: [pair of dots]